Rare Albino Hummingbird Photographed

Leucistic Ruby-throuted Hummingbird photographed in 2009 in Oakland, Calif.

Normal Phase male Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Jan. 27, 2012 -- These shots of an extremely rare albino ruby-throated hummingbird were photographed by two Virginia teenagers and two preteens: Marlin Shank, 16, Shaphan Shank, 14, Darren Shank, 12 and Allen Shank, 9.The Shank brothers spotted the rare bird with their father Kevin Shank, who runs Nature Friend Magazine with his wife Bethany.

The Shanks heard about sightings of the rare bird at a feeder at the home of Ed and Nancy Lawler of Staunton Virginia back in August."When we heard through a listserve that some birders were watching a rare albino ruby-throated hummingbird come to their feeders only 30 miles away, we took the drive," Kevin Shank told Discovery News.

As he wrote on on his web site: "The thoughts rolling through my mind were several. For one, this might be the only day in our lives when the boys and I would have the opportunity to photograph an albino hummingbird. Obviously we would prefer the photos 'turn out.'"The Shanks set up cameras, including a Canon EOS1D Mark 4 with a 600ml F4 lens, in different spots. And each took turns shooting between August 12 and August 27. All of these shots were taken on August 26. More photos of the bird can be seen here.